CircuitCity.com returns; new management is more promising

The Circuitcity.com web address was revived over the weekend—by the owner of another major electronics retail website, TigerDirect.com, that fared better in some respects in our latest Ratings of electronics online retailers (available to subscribers) for than did the old Circuit City site.

Circuit City's stores may be long shuttered, following the demise of the electronics megachain earlier in the year, but Systemax, self-described as a "leading multichannel electronics retailer," has bought the Circuit City brand name.

Systemax promises the new Circuit City website will offer “new lower prices, new wider selection, new faster shipping,” and “world-class customer service.” Those promises might be an acknowledgment of the weak points of the old Circuit City compared with TigerDirect. In our Ratings of places to buy a computer (available to subscribers) or other major electronics item, the old Circuitcity.com received lower marks than TigerDirect.com for price, selection, and customer service.

The new site also appears to have a more generous return policy for computers—with a 30-day return period, like TigerDirect and many other sites, rather than the 14-day return period offered by the old Circuitcity.com. However, the site includes a caveat on returns and other customer-service issues: It won't handle problems or claims on any order made on the old Circuit City site—that is, made before March 31 of this year.

Of course, the experiences of the Consumer Reports' subscribers that determined last year's scores for TigerDirect.com last year may or may not align with those of consumers buying from the new Circuitcity.com. We may have a better idea later this year, when we again survey readers about their experiences with online electronics retailers, including Circuitcity.com. —Paul Reynolds

Comments

[Paul Reynolds]

You're right, Peter; I should have mentioned that Systemax owns and operates CompUSA's stores and website. I omitted that information in part because we did not rate CompUSA's website in our most recent Ratings on places to buy electronics. We did rate the CompUSA retail stores, which scored comparably to those of Circuit City. Since that survey, as you may know, CompUSA stores have dwindled considerably in number; there are now just 23 locations, in Texas, North Carolina, Illinois, and Puerto Rico.

[Peter R. Wood]

You should also mention that Systemax now owns and runs the CompUSA brand.